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Building on Women's Strengths

A Social Work Agenda for the Twenty-First Century, Second Edition

By K Jean Peterson, Alice A Lieberman

Published September 26th 2001 by Routledge – 330 pages

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    Description

    Build a woman-centered social work practice for the new millennium!

    “How do we take the strengths women have--have always had--and use them to build a world that is validating, liberating, and inclusive?” This is the question at the heart of Building on Women's Strengths. This groundbreaking book explores the ways a woman-centered worldview can transform social policy, social services, and direct practice.

    Updated to honor the memory of Liane V. Davis, who died in 1995, this new edition of Building on Women's Strengths offers updated information to reflect the enormous changes that have occurred since 1994 in women's lives. Many of the original selections have been revised or totally rewritten to reflect those changes and the more integrated policy/practice focus of this edition. New chapters were added on working with women who have been incarcerated, women on welfare who experience violence, and lesbian and bisexual women.

    Building on Women's Strengths presents a woman-centered approach to understanding and analyzing the issues women must confront in their daily lives, including:

    • family violence
    • welfare reform
    • mental health
    • child welfare
    • aging
    • racism
    • being silenced by society
    The Journal of the National Association of Social Workers said of the first edition, “Each chapter presents with skill and rigor an opening for respectful and challenging discourse.” This edition of Building on Women's Strengths offers an even more comprehensive view of the ways to overcome oppression in women's lives. It is an essential volume for social workers, policymakers, mental health professionals, and anyone working toward social justice for all women.

    Contents

    Contents

    • About the Editors
    • Contributors
    • Preface to the First Edition
    • Preface to the Second Edition
    • Chapter 1. Why We Still Need a Women's Agenda for Social Work
    • Introduction
    • The Women's Movement and Political Change
    • Reality: A Social and Political Construction
    • Why We Still Need a Women's Agenda for Social Work
    • Chapter 2. Building on the Romance of Women's Innate Strengths: Social Feminism and Its Influence at the Henry Street Settlement, 1893-1993
    • Introduction
    • Social Feminism
    • The Henry Street Settlement
    • Conclusion
    • Chapter 3. What Is Needed for True Equality: An Overview of Policy Issues for Women
    • Introduction
    • Family, Gender and Class
    • Women's Employment and Economic Well-Being
    • Social Control of Women Through Violence
    • Conclusion
    • Chapter 4. Child Welfare As a Women's Issue: Untangling Gender, Race, and Class
    • Historical Perspective
    • Recent Trends
    • Women and the Child Welfare System
    • Implications for Social Work in the Twenty-First Century
    • Conclusion
    • Chapter 5. Women's Mental Health Issues: Twentieth-Century Realities: Twenty-First Century Challenges
    • Introduction
    • Twentieth-Century Realities--Past to Present
    • Contemporary Issues in Women's Mental Health: The Interplay of Systems, Structures, and Symptoms
    • Twenty-First Century Challenges--Present to Future
    • Empowered Practice in the Twenty-First Century: Ideas for Social Workers
    • Chapter 6. Women, Welfare, and Violence: A Look at the Family Violence Option
    • TANF and the Family Violence Option
    • The Link Between Domestic Violence and Welfare
    • Domestic Violence and Economic Self-Sufficiency
    • Implementing the Family Violence Option
    • Next Steps
    • Conclusion
    • Chapter 7. Promoting Reentry for Formerly Incarcerated Women: Individual and Community Practice Challenges
    • Introduction
    • Factors Contributing to Postincarceration Recidivism or Successful Reentry
    • Methodology
    • Discussion and Implications
    • Conclusion
    • Chapter 8: Supporting the Strengths of Older Women
    • Contemporary Practice Issues
    • Economic Security
    • Health Care
    • Social Interaction
    • Contemporary Practice Issues
    • Contemporary Policy Issues
    • Conclusion
    • Chapter 9. Beyond Women of Color, Welfare, and Identity Politics
    • Welfare Herstory: History Retold
    • Case Illustration: Vanessa
    • Beyond Race or Gender Issues
    • Chapter 10. Lesbians and Bisexual Women: Relevant Policy and Practice Issues
    • Sociocultural Context
    • Homophobia and Heterosexism
    • Coming Out and “Passing”
    • Social Policy Issues
    • Practice Issues
    • Conclusions
    • Chapter 11. Overturning Oppression: An Analysis of Emancipatory Change
    • Introduction
    • The Genealogy of Oppression
    • Hidden Dynamics of Oppression
    • Intimations of Emancipation
    • Emancipatory Change in Social Work
    • Concluding Thoughts
    • Chapter 12. Changing Women's Narratives: Taking Back the Discourse
    • Introduction
    • Story, Knowledge, and Power
    • Women, Language, and Story
    • Language and the Mental Health Professions
    • Implications for Practice
    • Index
    • Reference Notes Included

    Related Subjects

    1. Area Studies

    Name: Building on Women's Strengths: A Social Work Agenda for the Twenty-First Century, Second Edition (Paperback) – Routledge 
    Description: By K Jean Peterson, Alice A Lieberman. Build a woman-centered social work practice for the new millennium!“How do we take the strengths women have--have always had--and use them to build a world that is validating, liberating, and inclusive?” This is the question...
    Categories: Area Studies